


Conductivity

by springtales



Category: Darkwing Duck (Cartoon 1991)
Genre: Developing Friendships, Friendship, Gen, Implied Quackervolt, Kind Of If You Squint, Pre-Relationship, also! no one i write is neurotypical lol, basically setting up for potential poly fearsome four bc its underrated!!!!, implied Liquiroot, rated for Megavolt's language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:27:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28370868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/springtales/pseuds/springtales
Summary: The Liquidator finds himself with nothing to do, and ends up in the company of his more-acquaintance-than-friend Megavolt. They've never exactly hit it off before, but maybe the hazardous duo can get past their differences.Megavolt remembers at least some things. Liquidator makes dad jokes.
Relationships: Megavolt & Liquidator
Comments: 5
Kudos: 19





	Conductivity

It was midday in St Canard, and a rather uneventful one so far. Citizens were at work, their children at school. The streets, while never very picturesque, were fairly quiet. Beneath one such street in the seedier part of town there traveled an unseen figure, if you could really call it that. Its only indication was the faint sound of rushing water. It moved swiftly down the familiar route until finally, one of the storm drains along the sidewalk seemed to shake before a pillar of water burst out of it.

It only took a moment for the geyser to swirl around itself and form the shape of the master of fluids himself, the Liquidator.  


He shook his head, affirming the stability of his regular dog-shaped form, and looked up at the shabby building that stood in front of him. A boarded up, all but abandoned structure that he was pretty sure used to be an apartment complex, or maybe a humble office building. But now, it was the shared hideout of the notorious Fearsome Five.

They had their own places, more or less, but they would often come here for various reasons. To plan their latest schemes, share intel on St Canard’s security or everyone’s least favorite vigilante, and it occasionally served as a simple hangout spot. The four of them had gotten more used to being around each other in their time working together, and without a lot of options for friends, took to planning more casual meetups now and then. It was a strange concept at first, sure, but even super villains had to take breaks.

Their elusive leader, Negaduck, had made it clear he had no interest in their so-called “friendship” (which was fine by them, honestly). He tended to only show up when he needed them for some big plan; otherwise the guy seemed like a ghost.

Liquidator himself didn’t really have a home base other than the hideout. He would hang out in various locations; the St Canard water tower, whatever abandoned warehouse suited his needs, the occasional fancy hotel (flood someone’s room and they’re out of there faster than you can say “luxury”). So, he supposed this was kind of like a home sometimes, albeit rundown. 

If he was being honest, he had really only come here to pass the time. This was truly a boring day; he didn’t have any evil schemes planned, and with Bushroot busy, he just wanted somewhere to go or something to do.

Getting out of his wandering thoughts, he entered the building. He didn’t figure anyone would be there, but maybe he’d find something to alleviate his boredom. Plans for one of his spare marketing schemes to read through, maybe. He glided up the old stairs like a particularly uninterested tidal wave, eventually reaching the door to the main room they used and slipping underneath it. Once he collected his form again, he scanned the room and saw something that surprised him.

There  _ was  _ someone here, as it turned out. His fellow super villain, Megavolt, was dead asleep on the sofa on the far side of the room, snoring loudly.

“Huh.” he said to himself. Of all his partners in crime, he and Megavolt hadn’t had much common ground in the past. It seemed like they were opposites in more ways than one sometimes, not to mention being a physical danger to one another if they weren’t careful. He cringed, remembering the times they’d both gotten electrocuted in the heat of battle. And during a game night that one time.

He started to feel awkward, unsure what to do. Should he wake him up for some company? Look around and try to entertain himself  _ without  _ waking him up? Leave?

Before he could answer himself, Megavolt stirred. He could hear him mumble something in his sleep, and then he started to roll over. In the direction off of the couch, unfortunately. Liquidator rushed over to keep him from hitting the floor, but stopped himself just before he could touch the rat, thankfully able to override his reflexes. Falling on the floor was a bad way to wake up, but 50k volts to the...everything, really, was probably worse.

That being said, neither of them had much time to react as Megavolt hit the floor, startling awake, and looked up at Liquidator.

_ "-GAH!"  _ he screeched, scrambling on the floor to put some distance between them. _ "What the fuck-where-how-" _

Liquidator realized he must've looked quite imposing, having stopped himself while still hovering over his acquaintance. He shrunk back for a moment.

"...Liquidator? What are you doing here?" His eyes narrowed. "You weren't gonna kill me in my sleep or anything, were you?"

"Wha-NO!" The dog sputtered. With an opener like that, he could throw out whatever slogan-based greeting he had  _ meant _ to say.

Megavolt blinked. "Okay. Just making sure." he said offhandedly, as if he'd asked him about something perfectly normal. 

"So what  _ are  _ you doing here?" he inquired again.

"I could ask you the same, my electrified friend!" he said, the confidence back in his voice now that he had someone to actually talk to. "The Liquidator is here on no particular business, shocking as it may be. But what about yourself?" He knew Megavolt mainly lived at his lighthouse.

Still sitting on the floor, the rat sneered at his boisterous tone. "Whaddaya mean? I  _ live _ h-" He stopped mid-sentence and looked around, rubbing his goggle lenses with one hand.

"Oh...I don't live here, do I?" he said half-jokingly. He tried to remember why he was at the hideout. He thought maybe he'd been here all day and had just taken a nap. He wasn't sure why; naps always disoriented him, like this one had clearly done.

He shrugged and stood up. "If I figure it out, you'll be the first to know." he said sarcastically. “So what, you just here ‘cause you’re bored? Is Bushy not home or something?” The question might have sounded less genuine a few months ago, when it first became apparent how much time they spent together, but it was common knowledge amongst the four at this point. Same went for Megavolt and Quackerjack, though they’d been together for a bit longer.

Liquidator frowned for just a moment. “He is, but he can’t be disturbed. Apparently, it’s pruning day for Spike.” They both got a similar idea of what that might look like, shuddering. “What about our ever-jovial jester?”

“Haven’t heard from him today. I think he’s working on...something.” he replied, searching his vague recollections. That wasn’t unusual, really. Whenever Quackerjack was working on a new invention, he tended to get wrapped up in it, sometimes not reappearing for days.

There was a lull as the two ran out of small talk. Liquidator could tell the awkward feeling was mutual, at least. It may have been a good time to actually address their underdeveloped relationship, but neither of them was exactly volunteering.

“Sooo…” Liquidator began, not really having a followup and darting his eyes around the room for  _ something  _ to give him ideas. “...What’s that?” he said, turning his head to the table on the other side of the room. The object lying on it, now that he looked at it, was clearly a folded up umbrella. He just wanted to be saying something, even if it was slightly stupid.

Megavolt trotted over to the table and picked it up. It was fairly large, even unopened. “My umbrella!” He stared at it, looking contemplative. “I’m pretty sure I put it here so I wouldn’t forget...something.”

It hadn’t been very cloudy that day, so Liquidator wasn’t sure if he had been expecting rain. 

Something else came to his mind, however.

“How do you deal with that?”

“What?” the rat said absentmindedly, fiddling with the umbrella.

“The memory loss thing.” He realized a little too late how rude that might’ve sounded, regretting it when the other looked over at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Well, aren’t we nosy?” he jabbed, but continued. “I mean, like you deal with anything I guess. I just gotta do some things differently. I try to structure my days so it’s easier to remember basic things like eating and sleeping.” He glanced at the couch, knowing he only would’ve been sleeping this time of day if he hadn’t last night. “Emphasis on  _ try.  _ I use a LOT of memory aids, my place would probably look like a disaster to most people. Shit’s stacked up everywhere, cabinets I keep open, sticky notes -not like those ever help-, and all the electronics, I guess, but that’s a given...”

He trailed off for a second, then twitched and started again. “Some bigger things are easier to remember though, and I’ll kind of, like... attach other things to them so I remember those too. Like, uhh...Ok, take Quacky...”

“Where do you want me to take him?” Liquidator chimed in, smiling at his own joke.

Megavolt glared, clearly not expecting the interruption. “What-NOWHERE! Geez, that’s something I’d expect from him. I'm disappointed.”

"Hi Disappointed, I'm Liquidator!"

Maybe he was pushing it, but the look of betrayal on Megavolt's face was worth it.

"No, you're the worst." He grumbled, though he was hiding a smile of his own. “Whatever. Ok, so…” He frowned. “Oh-  _ dammit! _ Quick, what was I saying???”

“Big things that help you remember small things! Something about Quacky- er, Quackerjack as an example.”

“Right, yeah! He helps me remember things, whether he knows it or not. Like one time for this heist we were pulling, I had to shut off the power to the place at exactly 2:15 am, right? We were gonna be split up, and I knew I’d never remember the right time on my own, so I got Quacky to just say it to me a buncha times. I can always remember him and his voice, so it ended up working!” He smiled, then his brow furrowed after thinking for a moment. “Well, that and he called me... _ that, _ so I’d  _ really  _ remember.”

Liquidator started to open his mouth, but immediately closed it after the look he got.

“So yeah, I can’t really do much to make my memory better, but I can find workarounds.” He shrugged and knocked against his helmet jokingly. “Same as all the other shit I got goin’ on in here.”

That was a more in-depth answer than he’d expected. He supposed Megavolt liked talking just as much as he did, they just hadn’t really done so together. "That's actually very interesting!" he said, and stopped to think before piping up in his best commercial voice:

_ "Remember what you need to and nevermind what you don't with these few simple tricks!” _

The slogan earned him another annoyed look.

“But seriously, I can certainly appreciate that; I have a good memory, sure, but I have the attention span of a, uh…”

“Goldfish?” The other suggested, then laughed to himself. “Wait, no, you’re the goldfish  _ bowl!” _

“Something like that.” he said, rolling his eyes. “I know I’ve drifted off in conversations now and then; sometimes I’ll cut back in miles down a train of thought and get a bunch of confused looks.” He chuckled.

Megavolt thought; that definitely sounded familiar. Once he’d asked Negaduck to repeat something, only earning him a good cursing out as a response. Even that early in their partnership, he’d felt bad for the guy.

The electric villain was about to say something else when he heard a high-pitched beeping sound. He looked around himself and the room, trying to pinpoint it.

“What is that??? Where’s it coming from??” he said, getting more frantic, wondering if it was some appliance in distress.

“It sounds like a watch alarm.”

Megavolt stopped to process, then felt his own wrist. He did seem to be wearing a wristwatch underneath his glove. “Oh. Forgot it was there.” He tugged off the glove to switch it off, then squinted while looking at his own palm. “What the…” He twitched into a wide-eyed expression, even giving off a few sparks. Still holding the umbrella, he rushed to the window and peered through the boards, before turning and continuing his pace to the door. 

“Speaking of memory aids! I gotta go!!”

Liquidator started at the sudden shift in mood. “What? What’s going on?”

He saw Megavolt’s face, now beaming with excitement, before he disappeared from the doorframe.

_ “There’s supposed to be an electrical storm today!!” _

Without thinking, the dog followed him. They’d actually been having a pleasant time, and part of him didn’t want that to end. He watched as the other shambled down the stairs, his spindly legs skipping step after step. He allowed some distance before going after him, much more engaged than when he’d come up.

“Wait, a  _ storm?  _ That seems off-brand for you, don’t you hate the rain?”

He looked back, momentarily surprised at his tagalong. “Rain, yes, but  _ lightning?”  _ He burst into ecstatic laughter before he could even finish. Liquidator got the idea.

He peeled out of the building and to his car, parked in the alleyway beside it. He was already revving the engine when the mutant rounded the corner, faltering as he looked in the car window.

Megavolt glanced over at him, clearly not wanting to wait. “You’re welcome to come along, but could you like...get in a container or something? You being in here with me is asking for trouble.”

Blunt, but fair. Looking down at the discarded styrofoam cups on the floor, he thought he’d pass.

“How about I just get on the roof?”

“Sure, Quacky does it all the time. Just hurry it up!” he said, revving once more.

Liquidator climbed -or, flowed- up the side of the vehicle and found a hold on the roof, still trying not to touch any of the car’s strange modifications. Without another word, the car sped off, making a hard right out of the alley. Megavolt’s passenger was nearly flung off, but managed to resteady his grip. Once he felt more stable, he stretched his form so his head was looking in the passenger window. The driver did a double take and made a startled noise, swerving the car for only a second. “Yeesh, warn me before you do that!”

“Inquiring minds want to know; where exactly are we going?”

“Just a few blocks down, there’s a couple empty lots that are perfect for this kind of thing!”

“...Are you trying to get struck by lightning?”

Megavolt thought he asked too many dumb questions. “Possibly. It’s harder than you’d think, but it’s always a plus! I get a charge out of the bit right before the rain, actually.” Before he could ask another, he continued. “We’re almost there, you’ll see! Oh, I hope I don’t miss it!”

Even from a few feet away, Liquidator could see him passively radiating sparks as he grinned to himself. He was definitely glad he hadn’t called shotgun.

As he’d said, it wasn’t long before they could see the lot Megavolt had talked about. The horizon was actually visible from there, this being all but the outskirts of the city. He also noticed how quickly it came up, the car not seeming to slow down too much.

“Uhh...Megavolt-”

“Comin’ in hot!” yelled the driver before slamming on the brakes, the car screeching noisily to a halt.

That time, Liquidator did lose his grip, flying several yards ahead and splashing on the pavement. For a moment it looked like someone had just thrown a bucket of water, before his body reformed and crossed his arms at Megavolt, who hopped out of the car with his umbrella.

“Sorry!” he shouted over, but didn’t hide his amusement very well. He ran over into the untouched lot, the other in tow.

As he stepped into the grass, he seemed to slow down, no longer rushing to get to this point. He fixed his gaze on the dark cloud on its way.

The Liquidator caught up to his now especially electrified friend’s side (keeping a safe distance). “So what is it you’re here for, exactly? I’m curious.”

The other didn’t take his eyes off the storm. “Like I said, getting struck by lightning is always the dream.”

“Right, of course.” he agreed sarcastically.

“But otherwise, it’s the feeling I get in these first few minutes. The charge in the air, can’t you feel it?” He looked over, then blinked. “Okay, probably not, heh.” He turned back, this time with Liquidator following his gaze.

It was an impressive sight, that much was obvious. The towering gray cloud looked more like a solid object than a vague haze, rolling over itself slowly. There was a flash of lightning, to which Megavolt sparked almost in response. Thunder followed only seconds later, and there were even some smaller flashes contained within the clouds. He looked genuinely happy, like he was seeing an old friend.

“Looks like a good one.” Liquidator said, able to at least appreciate the other’s excitement.

He nodded, squinting at the horizon. "I think it's multicellular. It could keep going for a while if the wind keeps up."

Liquidator blinked for a moment, cocking his head at the rat.

When he finally looked over, he took in his confusion. "Oh! Storm cells are the collections of up and downdrafts that make storm clouds form. Those lighter thunderstorms that are usually under an hour, those are single cellular. When cells form together, it becomes a multicellular storm. They're more complex; the cells are all at different stages in their life cycle and have drafts in all different sizes and directions. To work as a storm system, they're all constantly growing and dissipating, taking turns being at the forefront, like a little family unit." He beamed as facts spouted out of him like a textbook, taking Liquidator by surprise. “The biggest thunderstorms, the ones that can do some real damage and cause tornadoes, are called supercells.” He said the term with glee. “They can span for miles, and last for hours! Multicells can still get pretty nasty though.”

His companion was rather impressed; Megavolt sure seemed to know a lot about storms. It made sense, he supposed. He imagined it was useful to know how to best avoid the rain, or when he might be able to utilize the lightning for recharging.

He thought about the thunder; he’d always heard that you can tell how far away the lightning is by the time in between them.

“How long, do you think, before it gets here?” he asked curiously. Ironically, another bright flash in the distance followed his question. He watched Megavolt quickly start counting the seconds with his hand, staying silent. He held up his fifth finger when they heard the crack of thunder, louder this time. The rat smiled.

“Ok, five seconds, about one mile. And it looks like it’s really moving, so…” He did some math in his head. “Five minutes, maybe less. Hey, did you know that “heat lightning” isn’t actually a thing? It’s just what people call lightning they see but can’t hear, ‘cause thunder can really only be heard in about a ten mile radius.”

“Huh.” was all the dog offered, though genuinely interested.

Seemingly done talking, he stepped further into the grass. Liquidator thought briefly about Bushroot; he’d like these empty lots, plenty of room for flowers. He looked back up at the other, who reached up and removed his helmet. He shook his head and ran a hand over his staticy hair, his ears flicking around. He inhaled deeply through his nose, as much as he could anyway, electricity travelling along his hair and whiskers as he exhaled.

Liquidator couldn’t remember ever seeing Megavolt relaxed; it seemed like an oxymoron. He himself didn’t really breathe, but he found himself wanting to join in, fascinated by the rat’s rituals. He tried to center his mind, staring off at the now not so distant storm.

They were quiet for a while, the silence broken up by thunder every so often. The sky slowly grew darker, the cloud-to-cloud lightning sporadically lighting things up. It was true that he couldn’t distinguish the “charge” that Megavolt had mentioned, but the change in pressure was clear. His form was always shifting somewhat, adjusting to tiny environmental changes in any given situation, and it was rarely all he was focused on. This was pretty nice, actually. Between the smooth rolling of the clouds and the clarity in the air, it was almost mesmerizing…

Megavolt heard a splash behind him. He jumped at the unexpected noise and spun around. As quickly as it had happened, he saw the puddle of water on the ground form itself back into his friend, who looked surprised as well.

“Woah, you okay, dude?” he asked, nonchalantly replacing his helmet.

The Liquidator shook his head around as if waking himself up and cleared his throat. “Yeah...I guess I got a little too relaxed.” He laughed sheepishly. Dozing off became much more of an issue when your physical form relied on your awake mind to stay together.

Broken out of his trance, Megavolt started to open his umbrella. Good timing too, the two could feel the wind picking up, a clear warning sign of the rain.

The umbrella popped open. It really was big; it looked like at least three people could fit underneath it comfortably. He held it up as he looked back up at the sky.

Unfortunately it seemed like bad timing after all, as a much stronger gust of wind hit just then, catching in the sail-like umbrella and making Megavolt stumble. He didn’t manage to catch himself and fell backwards, the persistent wind ripping the handle out of his grasp.

“Oh, shit, my umbrella!” He flipped himself over and prepared to run after it, but it was already a few lots away. Besides, it looked like it was a bit late. He felt a tap on his shoulder that caused him to jolt, and turning around, it hadn’t been his friend tapping him.

“Oh,  _ shit.” _

It only picked up from there, the shock freezing Megavolt for a crucial moment before he tried to make a frantic run for his car. A little too frantic; he tripped and fell again as a few more painful jolts hit him.

A startled “Megavolt!” was all he heard before he could start yelling more profanities, but suddenly the pain subsided. He wasn’t getting rained on? Was he dead?

He saw a strange shadow on the ground, like the bottom of a pool, and his eyes widened. Looking up, he stared into the face of the Liquidator, who was stretched over him, unmoving, like a sentient roof. He wondered how an umbrella made of water even worked.

“Woah. You can  _ do _ that?” he said, bewildered.

“Results may vary, if you don’t act now-” the roof answered, sounding strained. Holding his form strongly enough that no water dripped below him was a difficult act to keep up.

With that, Megavolt scrambled to his feet and took a very deliberate step towards the sidewalk, making sure his cover was moving with him. Once they figured out a sort of rhythm, they made their way over in a few suspenseful moments. The rat opened the door (thankfully he hadn’t locked it) just enough to get in and slammed it shut, climbing over to the driver’s side. They both sighed in relief, Liquidator’s form collapsing once more and crashing harmlessly against the side of the car. Megavolt flinched at the sight, thankful for the door between them.

Soon his friend collected himself, then briefly looked in through the window. Megavolt figured speaking was pointless with the already heavy rain beating against the car. The best he could offer was a thumbs up and a sincere grin. He got the same in return, the moment feeling less awkward than he expected. The smile stayed on his face as he put the keys in the ignition. He’d probably head back home to his lighthouse; it was much more reliable than the hideout, the roof of which had been known to leak on occasion.

He looked back out the window, unsure if Liquidator was planning on hitching another ride, but he didn’t seem to be paying attention.

It was actually kind of tricky to see him through the rain, with the water running down the window and the droplets hitting him making his silhouette less defined. He could still make out, though, his arms outstretched slightly while he stared up at the clouds. Never having thought about it before, Megavolt wondered what the rain must feel like to him. Did the raindrops go through him, or did they add to the mass of water that made him up? Could he control the rain if he wanted? Whatever the logistics, he seemed to enjoy it. 

He also seemed much more agile in the rain; he could remember a shower hitting one time while the four were fighting Dipwing, he’d gotten shorted out and lay dazed against a building, somewhat able to watch as Liquidator gained a significant advantage in the brawl.

He startled when the other suddenly tapped on his window with a curious expression, leaning a bit closer. He wondered if he’d just been staring in his direction that whole time as he crafted theories about him. That was probably weird.

He gave a vague wave and quickly turned away, placing his hands on the wheel. He figured he should drive carefully in this...but that was boring. He flipped gears and stomped on the gas, wildly skidding the car around to face the other way and stopping just in time. He glanced to the side, in case his onlooker had an impressed expression to offer.

He did, actually, or maybe it was more shocked. Megavolt couldn’t help it, something about driving this car (his baby, as he often called it), gave him the irresistible urge to show off. He revved the engine with feeling, a smirk growing on his face.

Unexpectedly, between the rainfall, he saw Liquidator grin back at him, a rolling wave of water starting to lift him up.

He couldn’t suppress a mischievous laugh as the same idea hit him.

With hardly another thought, he braced himself and layed on the gas pedal. The wheels spun for a moment before finding traction and he shot off through the rain. He heard the crash of water come up on his left, his racing opponent catching up to him with little struggle on the wet road. He sped on, eyes trained on the road.

Liquidator wasn’t usually quite as impulsive as his fellow villain, but the rain just made him feel so powerful; he needed to expend some energy somehow. He threw himself forward, water crashing against the pavement before the rolling momentum of his growing tidal wave spun him around and back to the top. The rain hit him with a million tiny splashes, adding onto his form, while the force of the wind threw droplets behind him as he went.

He swerved closer to the flashy car as it tried to speed up, his slight lead allowing him to look in through the windshield.

“The Liquidator wins any race with ease, or your money back!” he pitched, his practiced and projected voice reaching Megavolt even through all the noise.

He heard a bark of his high-pitched laughter from inside the car, followed by something that might’ve been “In your dreams, flood-face!”

The two raced down the stretching road towards the other side of town, laughing all the while. They never would’ve predicted a day like today, but had both already decided the other made for some refreshing, and electrifying, company after all.  Maybe they’d have to do this more often.

**Author's Note:**

> This is officially the first Darkwing Duck fic i've finished, and the only fic I've finished in a long time, actually. I've got more ideas for the fearsome four, especially poly fearsome four bc again there aren't any fics of them and that's a crime I think.  
> I hope to write more soon(ish)!


End file.
